Hotel room prices in Asia increased by 4% overall in the first half of 2012 as confidence returned to the market following the Japanese earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis in March last year.
Despite the rising hotel room rates there is good news for Singapore’s travel industry and Singaporeans looking to reward themselves with a luxurious year-end vacation.
Johan Svanstrom, Hotels.com’s vice president, Asia Pacific, said even though Singapore travellers faced price increases in more than half of the international holiday destinations included in the HPI, several popular Asian cities saw significant price falls.
“The continued expansion of low-cost carriers in the region has also provided Singaporean travellers with more cheap flight options. Singaporeans are thus extremely well-placed to find a good travel bargain just in time for their year-end getaway,” he added.
Bangkok offered the best deal on luxury hotels with an average price of S$211 per night, while Shanghai experienced the greatest slide in prices, dropping 13% in the first half of 2012 to S$236.
These cities also registered on the “Top 10” list of popular overseas destinations among Singapore travellers, with Bangkok in particular displacing Hong Kong as Singaporeans’ favourite holiday destination.
The report also showed that Singaporeans paid the third highest amount for a hotel on their own soil, spending an average of S$232 at home compared to just S$175 for a hotel room abroad, underscoring the fact that there is no better time than now for Singaporeans to travel.
Besides select Asian destinations, Singaporean travellers also enjoyed lower prices in 11 of the 15 European destinations in the report. The shopping havens of Milan and Madrid recorded significant drops of 12% and 10% respectively, while hotel rates in popular European destinations among Singaporeans, such as London, dipped 3%.
